Heart's desire
by GeekyNerdGirl
Summary: Catherine Stark. Tony's twin sister. What happens when she captures the heart of a certain scientist with anger issues? Read and find out. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

Ten years. It had been ten years, give or take a few months, since Catherine had seen Tony in person.

Sure they had spoken over the phone every so often when they had free time to do so.

So why was she standing in the street below his building labelled 'Stark Tower'? the better question was why she was even going to attend a party the man was throwing?

Catherine was extremely anti-social. Heck, even meeting a new person for the first time had her panicking.

From where she stood, she could see a line of people waiting to enter the building. They all wore high end clothes; or at least to make it look like they were.

Catherine, on the other hand, wore a pair of jeans and a purple blouse. She had opted for flats, with the hatred for heels. Her brown hair was out, reaching the base of her shoulder blades and straightened.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she quickly retrieved it, thankful for the distraction. It was a message from none other than Tony.

 _Hey, what are you doing standing there? Come and join the fun._

Catherine looked up and saw said man walking towards her. He held a wide, beaming grin on his face; while Catherine had a small, awkward one.

He stopped beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He led her over to the tower.

"Glad you could make it kit cat. Wasn't sure you were gonna make it," he said, as they entered the elevator. It was thankfully empty.

"I contemplated not even coming; but decided to, due to how long it's been."

"Do you have any luggage?"

"It's all in the car. I'll grab it in the morning."

"Nonchalance. I'll have Happy bring it to your room."

"I don't want to inconvenience him at all."

"Don't be so nice. It's what he's here for."

"But-"

"Ah, ah. Not another word. You are to relax and have fun. Stop worrying for once in your life."

Catherine heaved a sigh.

"Fine," she admitted in defeat.

Tony fist-pumped the air in succession.

"Jarvis."

"On it, Sir," replied a British voice, from the elevator speakers.

Catherine was about to say something, when the elevator doors opened with a ding, that was immediately drowned out by the thumping music coming from the floor.

Her heart thudded against her ribcage as she was pulled into the mass of people.

Tony took her to the bar and poured her a drink. He handed it to her and she took a small sip.

"I have someone to speak to," he said, well more like shouted, so that he could be heard, "Go mingle."

Catherine watched as he moved with ease through the too large of a crowd and stopped before a red haired woman. Catherine tilted her head to the side, trying to remember if she knew the woman.

Not wanting to be pulled out to dance or chat with a stranger, she quickly retreated to a couch; where a few more anti-social people, who looked as if they too had been dragged along, sat. Other than the few nods and 'hello,' the group sat in silence.

Catherine tapped a finger on the edge of her glass in time with the music.

A few times, men had come over to ask her to dance; and, a little less often, women. Each time she had refused.

As the hours dragged on, Catherine realised that Tony wasn't going to come back. She got up from the couch, put her glass down on the bar's bench and scurried off to the elevator.

Stepping onto it, she spoke.

"Jarvis, could you please take me to the floor my room is on?"

"Of course, Miss Catherine."

The elevator whirred to life and she was taken up three floors. When she got out, she found herself on a floor that looked identical to the one she had just come from. The only difference being that there were rooms and a fully functional kitchen.

Catherine went to the kitchen and searched through the fridge for something to eat. Spotting a small container of blueberries, she snatched them and went off to find her room. It only took her a few minutes to find a note on one of the doors, with her name written on it. She entered the room.

Her luggage was sat neatly at the foot of the bed.

Catherine opened her suitcase and pulled out a singlet and pyjama pants. She got changed and crawled into the over-sized bed.

She munched on the blueberries before setting the plastic container on the bedside table and settling down for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

Catherine got up the next morning at about eleven-thirty. She hadn't even bothered to change from her sleepwear.

After a quick meal of cornflakes, she went off to find Tony.

She went down to where the party was last night. The floor was devoid of any trace of what had happened.

"Jarvis?" she called out.

"Yes, Miss Catherine?"

"Where's Tony?"

"In his lab."

With a word of thanks, Catherine went off to the labs; with JARVIS' help.

Just as she entered through the lab doors, a metal hand came flying at her face. In reaction, Catherine dove to the floor, covering her head with her arms.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Tony yelled out, as he ran to her.

Catherine was helped to her feet.

"The hell was that?" she asked, a little shakily.

"Just something I'm working on."

The two went further into the lab. Tony sat on a stool at a bench with metal parts laying on top. Catherine sat beside him.

She picked up what appeared to be the shell of a forearm and inspected it.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Uh, a hobby?"

Catherine rolled her eyes.

"Want to try that again, but a little more convincing?"

Tony shook his head.

"No," he replied.

Catherine chuckled. Tony's phone buzzed and he answered.

"Peps, hey, what's up?" A pause. "Right, I forgot. I'll get ready and be there in a few hours."

He hung up then turned to Catherine.

"I have something to do out in the Atlantic Ocean. Want to tag along?"

"Sure, okay."

After quick showers and getting dressed, the two were on a jet on their way to Tony's destination.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Catherine asked, when they landed.

"Self-sustaining clean energy."

"Seriously?"

"Yep." He popped the 'p'.

They landed on a platform of a building that had be built on the water. The two walked down some stairs and ended up in a floor where the red haired woman from the party stood.

"Pepper, Catherine; Catherine, Pepper," Tony introduced.

#

"I can't believe he's Iron Man," Catherine said, in amazement to Pepper.

"Yeah, it's unbelievable," Pepper replied.

Tony was placing a Stark Energy Reactor into a pipeline transit. Catherine was still in slight shock about learning Tony's alter ego. His face appeared on a screen and spoke.

"You're good on this end. The rest is up to you."

Pepper pressed a button on the screen so that she could be seen and heard by him.

"You disconnected the transit lines?" she asked, "Are we off the grid?"

"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy."

"Wow, so maybe our reactor takes over and it actually works?"

"I assume. Light her up."

Pepper gave Catherine a nod. Catherine grabbed a tablet and moved the video link from the screen to it. Pepper switched the power.

"How does it look?" Catherine asked.

"Like Christmas, but with more…me."

"Gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign," Pepper cut in, taking the tablet from Catherine, "You need to do some press. I can do some more tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next billboards."

"Pepper, you're killing me. Remember? Enjoy the moment."

"Then pick us up and I will."

It wasn't as long going back to Stark Tower as it was going to the Atlantic Ocean. The second the three were inside, JARVIS spoke up.

"Sir, Agent Coulson of shield is on the line."

Catherine looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow.

"Who is Agent Coulson?" she asked, curious.

"No one important," Tony directed at her before speaking to JARVIS, "I'm not in. I'm actually out."

"It sounded important."

"Catherine crossed her arms.

"Drop it kit cat."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Uh, uh."

"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting," JARVIS cut in.

"Close the line Jarvis. I got a date."

#

Catherine was sitting on the couch, reading. She had drowned out the other two hours ago. She set her book down and stretched.

"Call your mum, can you bunk over?" she heard Tony ask.

She looked over. Raised eyebrow. She couldn't help but think she missed something that might have explained the conversation she had zoned out.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overwritten," The AI informed.

"Stark we need to talk," spoke a voice, that was emitting from Tony's phone.

Tony picked it up and replied.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message."

"This is urgent." A tone of annoyance in it.

"Then leave it urgently."

The moment the sentence left his mouth, the elevator doors opened up and a man in a suit walked out. He had thinning brown hair and blue eyes.

Catherine sat up straight and tucked her knees to her chest. She stared wide-eyed at the man.

"Security breach," Tony exclaimed, then leaned to Pepper and whispered, "That's on you."

"Mr Stark."

Catherine smirked. Yep, defiantly annoyance.

"Phil, come in," Pepper said.

"Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent."

"Come one in, we're celebrating."

"Which is why he can't stay."

Phil walked into the room, holding a file. His eyes wandered the room, before resting them on Catherine. Catherine's mouth went dry.

"Hello, he smiled, "I'm Phil Coulson."

"Catherine," she replied, giving a small wave.

"Pleasure to meet you."

His attention turned back to Tony.

"We need you to look this over as soon as possible," he continued.

Phil held out the file for him to take.

"I don't like being handed things."

"That's alright, 'cause I love to be handed things," Pepper spoke up, "Let's trade.

Catherine watched as Pepper handed her glass to Phil, took the file, took the glass from Tony and gave him the file before sipping at the drink.

"Thank you," she continued.

Tony gave a small pout.

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday."

"This isn't a consultation."

"Is this about the Avengers? Which I…I know nothing about," Pepper tried to back track.

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify."

"I didn't know that either."

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others."

"That I did know."

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Phil cut in.

"Whatever, Miss Potts, got a minute?"

Tony and Pepper walked over to a screen and spoke in low tones.

Catherine quickly got up from the couch and went to refill her glass of champaign. She silently offered Phil a glass, who shook his head.

Catherine turned, sipping her drink, when Pepper leaned in to whisper something into Tony's ear. Tony gasped and Catherine chocked on the liquid.

"Square deal. It's a date," Tony said.

Pepper kissed him.

"Work hard," she replied.

Pepper left with Phil, leaving Tony with the information he was given.

Catherine saw the worried look on his face. She walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

"No…" The voice was dragged out and distracted.

"Need help with anything?"

Tony looked at Catherine. She could see the gears working in his head.

"Okay. But not a word to anyone outside of shield or this tower."

Catherine smiled.

"Deal."

###

A/N: I FINALLY HAVE A NEW LAPTOP! YAY FOR ME!

It is awesome and chapters should be up a bit quicker now (so long as I'm not busy with my course that I am currently studying). I hope you guys are enjoying this fanfic.

Please RXR. I live for reviews and story follows :)

Next chapter should be up soon. Thank you so much for being patient. It really was difficult to type out on an ipod (also, should be even less mistakes now).

Thank you once again :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

Catherine found herself in a jet that was being piloted by an agent of SHIELD.

Tony had made a request to have her at the SHIELD base to help out. What had surprised her though was that she had been allowed to.

She was given a large amount of paperwork to look over while she was there. Catherine was glad; as it meant that she could be alone as she worked.

"Buckle up," the agent spoke through the speakers, "Going in for landing."

Catherine double checked her seatbelt.

The jet started to descend and touched down on the landing pad with a soft jolt.

Catherine waited until the agent stood up, before following suit. She grabbed the two shoulder bags full of files and put one on each shoulder.

She then grabbed the tablet she had been given and flipped open the casing. Catherine connected to Tony's; his face filling the screen.

"Hey kiddo," he said.

"Same age, jokester. I'm here. I'll get to work right away." She stepped out onto the hellicarrier. "See you soon."

"Good luck."

Tony hung up and Catherine shoved the device into one of the bags.

She looked up and gasped out in amazement. They were on what appeared to be a ship in the middle of the ocean. Jets lay around as well as the many SHIELD agents.

Catherine walked over to the railing and looked out over the water.

"Miss Stark?"

Catherine turned. The agent the was accompanying her, stood there.

"We may want to go inside. It's going to get a little hard to breath."

With a nod, Catherine scurried off after him. She was passing two people, when she bumped into a third.

Catherine stumbled back a few steps, before righting herself.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Catherine looked up into the brown eyes of a man with brown, curly hair. The man looked back at her with surprise.

"It's fine," he replied, after a moments pause.

"Miss Stark?!" the agent called again.

Catherine apologized again, before dashing off after him.

"Did they just call her Stark?" the man asked.

"I believe they did," replied a red haired woman, who stood next to a blonde haired man.

Catherine entered the hellicarrier and walked over to a large window. The ground below her feet rumbled and the hellicarrier started moving up.

She watched in awe as the water got smaller and the clouds quickly covered the windows, before they two were just below them.

"This is…awesome," she said to the agent.

"I know."

"I can't believe you get to be here every day."

The agent chuckled.

"Come on. I'll take you to the lab."

Catherine followed. She was led through confusing twists and turns until they made it to a medium sized lab.

Catherine placed her bags on a bench at a computer and started to unpack the files; placing them into neat piles.

She sat down at the computer and booted it up.

"Do you have everything you need?"

Catherine turned her head.

"Now that you mention it, could I have some blue berries? I work better when I have something to munch on."

"Yes, Miss Stark. I'll bring back something for you."

The agent left. Catherine cracked her fingers, before getting to work. She had barely started, when she heard footsteps. Thinking it was the agent, she spoke without looking up or stop typing.

"You can just set them over there."

She pointed.

"Set what where?"

Catherine froze. The voice didn't belong to the agent.

Slowly, she turned. The brown haired man she had bumped into outside was staring at her.

Catherine's face turned red with embarrassment.

"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry. I thought you were the agent that brought me here."

The man gave an awkward chuckle.

"I'm sure I would look awful in a suit.

Catherine jumped off the chair, stumbling slightly. She held out a hand.

"I'm Catherine," she blurted out.

The man took it and shook.

"Bruce."

The two let go of each other and Bruce went to a second computer; while Catherine went back to hers. Her body felt jittery.

The longer she worked, the calmer she became.

Another few minutes went by and the agent returned. Not wanting to disturb the two working, he set the blue berries down next to Catherine and some dried fruit and sweets at an empty table; before making a stealthy exit.

Catherine went to get the next file, when she spotted the pleasing sight of her favourite fruit. With a grin, she opened the packet and popped one into her mouth.

Her tablet lit up. Glancing at it, she saw that Tony was making a call to her. She answered.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey, how are you enjoying the lab?"

"It's good. My kind of scene."

"That's great to hear. Listen, I'm on a mission right now, I'll give you a call on my way back."

"Sure thing, stay safe."

"Always."

Tony grinned and hung up. With a similar grin and a shake of her head, Catherine put the tablet down.

"Friend of yours?" Bruce asked, not looking up at her from the monitor.

"You could say that. We grew up together."

"Hmmm."

Catherine gave a small smile.

"Blue berry?"

#

Catherine bounced her knee up and down excessively. She was getting worried.

It was now dark and Tony still hadn't returned, let alone called. She wasn't able to continue working with the fear that he was missing.

Catherine bit her lip and picked up the tablet for what seemed like the thousandth time. She turned it on and tried to call Tony.

After a few seconds, the call was declined. With a sigh of frustration, she slammed the device back down. With a quick inspection, she was glad that it hadn't broken. Then again, it would be more shock proof than usual, as it was a Stark device.

Catherine tried to get back to work, with no success.

Rubbing her face, she saved her work and turned off the computer. She packed up the paper files and put the bags on her shoulders.

"I'm sure they're fine," Bruce commented, turning to her.

"I hope so, otherwise I'm going to strangle Tony," she replied, in a cold voice.

"I assume you mean Tony Stark?"

"The very same."

"I've been curious. I heard your last name was Stark out on the landing dock. What's the relationship between the two of you?"

"Ah, well, uh, you see," Catherine fumbled with her words, trying to form a sentence.

Bruce walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Take a breath."

Catherine did so and released the air she had in her lungs.

"He's my brother," she finally replied.

Bruce looked slightly shocked.

"I thought he was an only child."

"Everyone thinks so; well anyone who isn't close to the Stark family. We kept it a secret when I decided I didn't want to be in the spot light."

"Who's older?"

"He is. By about twelve seconds."

"Twins? That's…interesting."

Catherine's mouth twitched into a half-smile.

"It's not _that_ impressive."

The two laughed slightly; more of trying to break the ice than anything else.

"I think a distraction is in order maybe you can help me," Bruce suggested.

Catherine thought for a moment.

"I think that might help."

She set her bags down again and followed Bruce over to his table, where a microscope and slides were waiting.

He handed her a clipboard and pen.

"I just need you to write down what I say; no matter if it's to myself or to you."

Catherine gave a thumbs up.

"Got it," she said, with a smile.

For the next few hours, all was silent; except for Bruce's musings and the occasional scratching of a pen on paper.

It was nearing 2AM. Catherine gave a quiet yawn. Bruce looked up into her eyes.

"Go get some rest," he said.

Catherine shook her head.

"I'm fine," she replied, "Just been a while since my last all-nighter. Keep going."

"I don't want to be responsible for your sleep deprivation."

"You won't be. I am quite good at going days without sleep."

Bruce huffed out.

"How well did that turn out?"

"Well, after the seventh day, I was hallucinating," Catherine admitted.

Bruce gave an 'are you serious' look.

"And?" he pushed on, wondering if he wanted to even know what happened.

"I may or may not have tried to take out a police officer, thinking he was a zombie. I had aimed the gun at him and fired. Turns out, I was just waving a banana around like a lunatic screaming 'die'."

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are you serious? Get some sleep."

Catherine giggled.

"It's fine. I know _now_ to not go any longer than three nights."

Bruce breathed out in defeat.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't-" he cut himself off.

He turned to look out the lab's window. Catherine followed his gaze.

Going past was a black haired man with his hands in cuffs, being led by a group of SHIELD agents. His hair was long, almost past his shoulders.

From what Catherine saw, he was wearing what looked like a leather trench coat.

He was looking back in through the lab's window, back at Bruce. Bruce rubbed his face.

The man than flicked his gaze over to Catherine, who flinched. The man's mouth turned up into a smirk. He then disappeared from view and Catherine felt herself relax.

Her heart still pounded, but was slowly calming down.

The next thing she knew, was that four people walked into the lab. Tony was among them. The other three she knew of, as she had reviewed the files on them. Natasha, Steve and Thor.

She had only looked up Thor when she was handed the file after getting on the jet to go to the hellicarrier.

"Come on. We're going to the briefing room," Natasha said.

Catherine and Bruce stood up. Bruce followed the group. Catherine grabbed Tony's arm and held him back.

"Be right there!" he called to the group.

He looked down at the female version of himself with a genuine smile.

"How did the mission go?" Catherine asked, arms crossed and tapping a foot on the linoleum floor.

"It went great, small snag at first; smooth sailing after."

"You didn't forget anything at all?"

"No."

Tony racked his brains, trying to remember what he had to do and what he might have forgotten. Coming up empty, he shrugged his shoulders.

Catherine threw her hands up in the air.

"Unbelievable!" she exclaimed, "For someone so smart, you can be so dumb."

"What did I do?!"

"More like, what didn't you do. You made a promise before your little mission."

At that, Tony's eyes widened.

"Oh shit. I completely forgot," the smirk returned, "You were probably freaking out so much."

Catherine shot him the best glare she could manage.

"It's not funny," she snapped, "I didn't know if you were hurt or worse."

Tony laughed whole-heartedly.

"Look at me. I'm fine. Sorry I didn't call, but you need to control your irrational fears."

"Irrational my ass. You were going after a psychopath."

"As much as I would love to stay and chat, I have some spying to do; and I'm sure you're just as curious as I am."

He turned and started walking away.

"This chat isn't over," Catherine growled out, before following.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four**

The six stood around a monitor, watching as Loki was being interrogated by Fury. Bruce looked at the screen intently.

"The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man," Loki mocked, "How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control." A pause. "You talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have the power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then be reminded what real power is."

Fury smiled.

"Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

Fury walked off, leaving Loki in the glass cell.

Loki turned his attention to the camera, the group were looking through, a smirk planted on his face. The monitor went black.

Everyone was in stunned silence.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce commented, breaking the silence.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked.

Thor was snapped out of his thoughts and explained.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the tesseract."

"An army? From outer space?" Catherine cut in, a frown on her face.

"So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for," continued Bruce.

"Selvig?" questioned Thor.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

Natasha spoke up.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours."

Catherine could feel the tension. She knew of Hawkeye, a.k.a. Clint Barton, who had been taken. Obviously she had felt sympathy about it, but it wasn't going to help with her feeling upset about it. Besides, she didn't personally know the guy.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Steve broke her thoughts.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce said, "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell the crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days."

"He's adopted."

Catherine stifled a laugh.

"Iridium, what did they need the iridium for?" Bruce asked.

"It's a sterilizing agent," the Stark twins replied, in unison.

"I'll fly you there," Tony continued, as Coulson walked in, "Keep the love alive. Means the portal won't collapse in on itself like it did on shield." He then directed his attention to Thor. "No hard feelings point break, you've got a hell of a mean swing. Also it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long as Loki wants." He then called out to the crew. "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."

Catherine face palmed.

Tony covered one eye with his hand and looked to the monitors.

"How does Fury see these?" he asked.

"He turns," replied a female agent, that Catherine didn't know.

"Well that sounds exhausting."

Catherine zoned out, until she heard Steve ask a question.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the coulomb barrier," Bruce answered.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect," Catherine spoke up.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English," Tony cut in.

"Is that what happened?" questioned Steve.

Tony and Bruce shook hands. Their eyes shining and a mutual respect shone between the two.

"It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on the anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Tony," warned Catherine, at the same time Bruce said 'Thanks'.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him," Fury spoke with authority, as he entered the room.

"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a hydra weapon," Steve spoke out.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand," Thor replied, his face holding a look of confusion.

"I do! I understood that reference," Steve countered, looking proud of himself.

Tony rolled his eyes and Catherine smirked, as she remembered that Steve was from the 1940s.

"Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony asked, his question directed at Bruce.

"Let's play some," Bruce replied.

The two got to the door, before Tony turned around.

"Coming kit cat?"

With a roll of her eyes, and a slight groan, Catherine tailed the two scientists.

#

Bruce was running scans, with a gamma ray detection scanner, on the sceptre; looking for any signs of radiation. Tony was looking at his monitors, shifting and solving algorithms and equations.

Catherine had been given a large file of findings by Tony and was backing them up onto hard drives. She was in the zone, until one word broke her concentration.

"Toothbrush."

It had come from Bruce. Catherine looked up; eyebrow raised.

"You know; you should come by Stark Tower some time. Top ten floors, all R'n'D. you'd love it, it's candy land."

Catherine snorted.

"Yeah, parties every week and countless women coming and going."

Tony gave her a look, to which she stuck her tongue out.

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke…Harlem," Bruce tried to decline.

"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises."

Tony poked Bruce in the side with a miniature electoral prod. Catherine's eyes widened.

"Ow!"

Tony looked at Bruce closely.

"Nothing?"

"Hey! Are you nuts?!" Catherine asked, shocked; just as Steve entered.

"You really have a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow Jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked, arms crossed.

"Funny things are."

Catherine rolled her eyes.

'Nice Tony,' she thought.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offence, Doctor."

"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark."

"You think I'm not?"

Catherine quickly got up, feeling anger and stress start to emit in the room. It was starting to affect her mood.

Feeling the need to calm down, she exited the lab and, following the map she had grabbed, made her way towards the gym. She went to the changing room and located her locker.

Catherine changed into tracksuit pants and a thick sleeved singlet. She took her shoes off, leaving her feet bare.

On the way out, she grabbed a yoga mat. Finding an empty patch of floor, she unrolled the mat.

Catherine sat down and stretched her legs, arms and middle section. She then stood up and got into her first pose.

As she focused her breathing, she let her mind wander. It found her thoughts drifting to Bruce.

When she had researched him, back at Stark Tower two days ago, her first thought was how handsome he looked. Her second? How fascinating he was when he turned into the large, muscular, green man when he got mad.

Sure, she knew of him when they had first met, but it wasn't until introductions that it had clicked.

God, she felt terrible that it had taken her that long to realise. She bit her lip and forced the embarrassment away.

Catherine moved onto the next pose, which took her looking at the entrance of the gym.

Bruce entered, alongside Steve. She watched as they entered the men's changing room.

She breathed out slowly; then inhaled again. She shut her eyes.

"Could we join you, Mam?"

The voice was so sudden, that Catherine snapped her eyes open.

Steve and Bruce had changed into exercise clothing and each carried a yoga mat. Catherine stood up straight.

"O…of course," she stammered.

She shifted her mat to a bigger space and somehow found herself in between the two.

She showed the proper way to stretch, before leading them though a few poses; which changed every few minutes.

"I'm curious," Catherine said, "What made you decide to join me?"

"I saw you leave during Steve and Tony's…dispute, and I wanted to do something to get away from Tony for a bit; besides, Steve looked like he could use some relaxation."

"How are you liking it Steve?"

"It's quite enjoyable, but I don't think I can do this on a daily basis."

"I get it. I can't either. It's more of a stress release for me."

"You know, Coulson told me about you. Your family and why you're here."

"Yeah. I had a feeling that might happen. It's not _exactly_ a secret, even if we tried to hide it."

"So what did you do in your life? I mean, before you came here?"

"Well, I travelled around a lot. Being a Stark, it was easily doable."

"What kind of places did you visit?" piped up Bruce.

"A lot of places. It was a great ten years of my life."

"Ten years?!"

"Yeah. I wanted to do something that I wanted to before I was brought back into the family business."

Bruce nodded, in understanding.

They finished the last pose and started to roll up their mats, when Phil came in and called Steve away.

"How did you end up working for shield?" Bruce asked, as they put the equipment away.

"I was visiting Tony. Phil…Agent Coulson came by the tower and asked for his help. I helped Tony with his research and he asked, well, demanded that I be able to come alone to assist." The two walked out into the hallway. "How did he put it?" Catherine thought. "Ah, yeah; I'm his 'good luck charm'." She air-quoted, with an eye roll.

"Hungry?" Bruce asked.

"Starved."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five**

Bruce sat opposite Catherine; both at a two-seater table near a window.

Catherine was munching on some chips, while Bruce was chewing on a carrot stick from his salad.

The two were making small talk over their meals. Some were sarcastic; such as 'nice weather we're having', to which, the two laughed loudly, causing people to jump and look over at them.

Bruce picked up a slice of tomato.

"What's the deal with Tony calling you 'kit cat',"

Catherine smiled.

"Haven't told _that_ story in a while," Bruce looked on with curiosity, "As a kid, my class had to do a presentation to our parents about what foods were healthy and what wasn't. I was chosen to play as a KitKat," she chuckled, "It was a ridicules play. Tony was laughing non-stop for the rest of the school year. It didn't help that we shared some classes."

Bruce snorted and Catherine looked at him with mock hurt.

"Don't laugh."

She leaned over and playfully punched him on the arm.

Bruce held a straight face; which would have worked, had the corners of his mouth not been twitching.

"I'm not," he held his hands up in a defensive posture, before relaxing, "Although, picturing that; it's kinda cute."

Catherine's face reddened and she busied herself with dipping a chip in sauce.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

A third chair was set down at the table.

Bruce and Catherine looked up in slight alarm. Tony sat down, apple in hand.

"What're you guys talking about?" he asked, "I can hear you from down the hallway."

"Just the kit cat story," Bruce replied, casually.

"Traitor," whined Catherine.

"I've got a lot more stories like that. Like the time, we-" Tony started.

"Don't you _dare_ bring that up; or I'll tell what happened at camp in third grade," Catherine threatened.

Tony paled.

"Okay, okay. Duly noted," he went back to his normal composure, "Bruce, we have work to do. Coming _kit cat_?"

With an annoyed, defeated huff, Catherine nodded.

They took their trays to the bins and emptied them, before placing them on the top and leaving.

#

Bruce looked up from his work when the soft sounds of snoring reached his ears.

Tony had only just left to get them all coffee.

Bruce got up from his seat and followed the noise. A small smile reached his face as he looked down on the sleeping figure of Catherine.

She was using her arms as a makeshift pillow and was breathing deeply.

Every so often, she would twitch and make a little, almost inaudible moan.

Bruce covered his mouth with a fist.

He admitted to himself that he was attracted to her, but he would never say it out loud to anyone.

He had always distanced himself from people to make it easier on them as well as himself if the other guy came out.

Sure, he had had partners, but the moment they knew the truth about him, they would turn away; fearing for their lives.

Shaking his head, he wondered if he should put a blanket over top of her and go back to his research.

No. She would be too stiff in the morning.

"Take her to bed, big guy."

Tony's voice startled Bruce and he whirled around, shock on his face.

Tony bit a fist to stop himself from laughing. Regaining control, he continued.

"She's a heavy sleeper. Take her to her room, tuck her in, kiss her goodnight. She'll appreciate it."

"Why can't you do it? You're her brother."

"I have a reputation to keep. You're the caring doctor. Besides, I've seen the way you two look at each other."

"What are you talking about?"

Bruce's cheeks tinged with pink and Tony leaned in.

"That right there," he pointed, "Don't tell me you don't feel anything."

Bruce turned away.

"I don't know what you're on about," he said.

Tony shrugged.

"Alright. Just go take her to her room."

Bruce turned back to Catherine. He bent over and picked her up, bridal style.

"Bruce…" she murmured, into his shirt.

His face turned bright red.

"One floor up, third door on the left," Tony stated.

Bruce gave a slight mumble of thanks, before exiting.

He followed the directions and found himself standing in a room that was no different to what an agent of SHIELD would stay in.

He had thought that since she was a Stark, she would have a large room or at least a VIP room with a built in en-suite.

Maybe she was used to a small room after her travels. He couldn't be sure.

Bruce shut the door with his foot and took cautious steps to the bed, not wanting to wake the woman in his arms.

As he went to put her down, she latched onto his waist.

Bruce tried to pry her off, however her grip was like a vice.

Biting his tongue, he wondered what Tony would think if Bruce didn't return to the lab. Hell, maybe he knew; which is why he didn't move Catherine himself.

He could already picture the man smirking to himself.

Trying once more and failing to free himself, Bruce gave up.

He climbed into the tiny bed and pulled the blanket up to Catherine's chin. She snuggled closer to him.

He could feel her breath through his thin shirt.

Trying to stop the second round of heat from rising on his face, he closed his eyes and tried to calm his beating heart.

He did a few breathing exercises and found himself start to relax. Within moments, he was asleep.

#

Catherine rolled over, hitting something solid.

Her eyes fluttered open; still feeling the effects of tiredness.

A man lay beside her. His brown hair was a mess, sprawled out over his side of the pillow.

At first, Catherine thought it was Tony. The longer she stared, the more awake she became.

It was then that she realized the build of the man and the shade of brown hair was wrong. With a scream, she tried leaping out of the bed.

Her feet got tangled in the sheets and she crashed to the floor with a thud. The man jolted awake and was up in a second.

"Bruce?!" Catherine exclaimed, breathing heavily.

Bruce walked over to her and helped untangle her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Catherine nodded.

"I'm fine. You just…surprised me, that's all," Bruce seemed to relax at that, "What are you doing in here anyway?"

Bruce helped Catherine to her feet, before answering.

"You fell asleep in the lab last night. I brought you here to your room and you wouldn't let go of me. I simply spent the night here."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Catherine let out a small breath of relief.

"You should get back to the lab," she said, "I'll be down soon. I'll bring breakfast, as an apology for making you stay."

Bruce chuckled.

"I'll meet you down there then."

Bruce gave a small smile, before leaving.

Catherine pulled out her overnight bag from under the bed. She grabbed out a pair of jeans and a light purple sweater. She changed into them and put her dirty clothes into the bag.

As she brushed and tied her hair up, she slipped her feet into a pair of flats.

Catherine left the room and made her way to the cafeteria. She piled a tray up with food.

After grabbing three cups of coffee, she headed towards the lab.

"Snack break," she said, as she entered through the doors.

Tony sprang up from his seat. He bounded over, taking one of the cups.

"Thanks," he said, before moving to go back to the screen.

"Na, ah. You _have_ to eat," Catherine replied, grabbing Tony's arm.

She took a plate of pancakes off the tray and shoved it into his hands,

"Thanks, _mum_."

Catherine poked her tongue out at him. He copied.

She handed a cup to Bruce, who accepted it gratefully. Catherine held out the tray.

"I wasn't sure what you wanted," she said.

Bruce picked up the sandwich.

"I don't eat much," he commented.

He gave a grin of appreciation; then turned and walked back to his work.

Catherine put the tray down on an empty desk. She picked up the bowl of fruit and cream and the last cup. She then sat down and started to eat.

Each time she put her spoon down, she entered more information into the backup drives.

Just as she finished her meal, Fury entered the lab. The three brunettes turned to him.

"Stark, come with me," Fury ordered.

Tony made a groan and started to move. Fury shook his head.

"Not you, her."

Shock appeared on Catherine's face.

"No, there's some kind of mistake. I'm not one of your agents. I'm only here to assist Tony and Bruce."

"It won't take long. About twenty minutes' tops."

Catherine stood up.

Tony crossed the room and gripped her arm, gently; stopping her from walking.

"Now hold up. Why do you need her?" Tony asked.

"That's on a need to know basis." Fury replied.

"Right, and I need to know."

"Sir," Catherine cut in, "I think Tony should hear it too. Even _if_ I'm sworn to secrecy, he will hack into the camera feeds and listen in."

Tony gave a sheepish grin.

"Alright. I want you to talk to Loki."

"What?!" the twins exclaimed, in unison.

"We need information from him and, according to Thor, you are exactly the kind of person he likes. He is bound to let something slip."

"There is no way she is going in there alone. Get that assassin of yours to conduct the interview."

"He won't go for the bait if he suspects a shield agent."

"Is that all she is? Bait?"

"Stark, we haven't got the time to argue. Listen in if it makes you feel better. Besides, Agent Romanoff will be nearby should anything occur."

Tony opened his mouth to reply, but Catherine cut him off.

"It's fine. It's only twenty minutes, right?"

"Give or take," Fury replied.

Catherine turned to Tony.

"They need the information," she said, "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

Tony's jaw dropped.

"Why would you say that? In every horror movie, the person that says that dies," he gasped out.

"Not a horror movie, Stark," Fury responded.

Fury then turned to Catherine.

"Let's go."

Catherine gave a small nod and followed him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six**

Loki paced back and forth inside the glass case, when Catherine entered the room. He stopped

"There's not many people who can sneak up on me," he said, turning to face her.

"That wasn't my intention," Catherine replied, her voice low, "But, you figured I'd come?"

"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would corporate."

"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton."

"I'd say I've expanded his mind."

"And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?"

Catherine frowned.

"What?"

Loki smirked.

"I can hear that voice in your ear, telling you what to say. I am not interested in her story; I'm interested in yours. Tell me, why did you chose to come here?"

"Do _not_ answer that," Natasha's voice came through the ear piece Catherine wore.

Loki sat down on the chair in his cell, waiting for the brunet to answer. Catherine pulled over a chair and sat down in front of the cell.

"Stark, don't let him get into your head!" Natasha ordered.

Catherine removed the ear piece and put it into her pocket.

"Okay, uh…what did you want to know?"

"What is family life like? Did you miss your…brother on your travels or were you wanting to avoid coming back all together?"

Catherine wrung her hands.

"I will know if you lie to me," Loki continued.

Catherine kept her gaze on the floor. She didn't like the fact that Tony might be listening in.

"I admit that I didn't want to come back. I was a disappointment to the Stark name. Dad wanted me to run the family business when he retired. He wanted me to be someone I'm not; and because I refused, Tony and I both suffered for it. In his eyes, we were nothing but failures."

"What of Tony? Has he not heard this story?"

Catherine shook her head.

"Afraid of what he'll think? Are you so desperate for his approval that you willingly place the blame onto another?"

Catherine snapped her head up.

"What about you?!" she snapped back, leaping to her feet, "All this destruction and for what? Because daddy dearest didn't give you the crown?! Because he chose Thor over you?! Because you're not his biological son?!" Loki's visibly flinched, "Grow up!"

Loki jumped to his feet and hit a fist against the glass. Catherine jumped back, her anger vanishing.

"I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way, you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

Catherine took a few steps backwards, her hands over her mouth.

"You're a monster," she gasped out.

"No. You brought the monster."

"Bruce? That's your play?"

"What?"

"Cat, get back to the lab," Tony's voice sounded over the speaker system.

Catherine turned to leave. An explosion sounded and Catherine was thrown to the control panel. Her hand hit the door release for the cell.

When she righted herself, she saw Loki was standing in front of her. He looked at her with a mischievous smile.

"Thank you for the rescue, however, I am still going to make good on my threat," he grabbed her upper arm, roughly, "You will make a great bargaining chip. When the world is mine, you will be the first one to be made an example out of."

His grin became dark and sinister. Loki spun her around and clapped a hand over her mouth. With a wave of his hand, a second Loki appeared in the cell.

Catherine was pulled into the shadows, just as Thor ran into the detention centre. He saw Loki in the cell, escaping.

"No!" he yelled out.

Thor charged. The Loki in the cell walked to the doorway and crouched down to attack.

Thor made a tackle movement and went through the figure, who then dissipated.

Loki and Catherine stepped out from their hiding spot. Loki pressed the cell door button, which closed the door, locking Thor in. Loki smiled.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

A man came in. A soldier to guard Loki from harm. Thor slammed his hammer on the glass cell, which only cracked, but violently rocked the ship.

Loki and the soldier stood with caution. Loki walked over to the control panel, his smile returning. He hovered his free hand over it, after shifting Catherine so that he was firmly holding her again.

"The humans think us immortal," he said, "Should we test that?"

The soldier dropped to the ground. Phil Coulson stood just behind them and to their right, holding a phase 2 weapon prototype.

"Move away, please," he said.

Loki obliged.

"You like this?" Phil continued, "We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you want to find out?"

Phil gasped out. He had been pierced from behind.

The real Loki stood behind him. Catherine was bound and gagged on the floor; tears streaming down her face.

"No!" Thor yelled out, in sorrow.

Loki sent Phil crashing against a wall, whom then slumped down, breathing fast. Loki made his way over to the control panel and held a hand over it. He gave Thor one last look, before pressing a button, opening the hatch.

He then pressed another, causing the cell to drop from the ship. Catherine gave a muffled scream as she watched the cell drop.

Loki looked down. He closed the hatch, walked over to Catherine and lifted her up over his shoulder. He then went to leave, when a weak voice stopped him.

"You're gonna lose."

It was Phil barely clinging to life. Loki turned.

"Am I?" he questioned.

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are scattered; your floating fortress falls from the sky…where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

"I don't think I-"

Phil shot Loki with the prototype weapon, sending the god and his hostage through the wall behind them.

"So, that's what that does," Phil commented.

Phil relaxed his arm, dropping the weapon.

"Forgive me, Miss Stark," he continued.

Loki got up from the rubble and carried, the now unconscious, Catherine to the Chitauri carrier that had brought Clint and his men to the hellicarrier. It took off, taking the two of them, along with the sceptre, into the distance.

#

Catherine woke up on a couch in Stark Tower. Her wrists were tied together with rope, in front of her.

She sat up and groaned, clutching her pounding head.

As the pain subsided, she brought her hands down. Blood coated them. Catherine quickly touched her head again and looked at her fingers.

Fresh blood coated them. She looked on with worry.

"It is not fatal. At least, not until I make it so," Loki spoke from behind her.

Catherine sprang to her feet; whirling around as she did so.

She noticed how much healthier he looked now, than how he did the first time he had entered the hellicarrier three days ago.

"What did you do to me?" Catherine asked, panicked.

Loki chuckled, lowly.

"I have not _done_ anything. Yet. As I have said, you will be the example for the rest of the mortals."

"You'll be defeated."

"By that group of misfits? I highly doubt it. They _will_ be killed."

"They'll come for me."

"That I don't doubt. Maybe I should break your brother's spirit now and kill you."

"You do that and he won't stop until you're dead."

"Let's test that then, shall we?"

Loki strode forward and wrapped a hand around Catherine's throat. He squeezed tightly, cutting off her air supply.

Catherine was lifted off the ground. She kicked and thrashed, trying to escape his grasp. Her mouth opened, in an attempt to suck in air, to no avail.

Her vision started to fade, when an iron suit landed outside, distracting Loki.

"Later," he said, dropping Catherine; who fell like a sack of bricks, to the floor.

Loki turned to Tony, picking up his sceptre as the brown-haired man walked down the steps and over to the bar.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said.

"Uh…actually, I'm planning to threaten you."

"You should have left your armour on for that."

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage. You've got the blue stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Don't provoke the lunatic," Catherine wheezed out, as she sat up.

She rubbed her neck; bruises already starting to form.

"Stalling me won't change a thing," Loki said, ignoring the woman.

"No, no, no! threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers."

Loki looked at Tony confused.

"It's what we call ourselves," Tony continued, "Sort of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes type of thing."

"Yes, I've met them."

Tony smiled.

"Yeah. Takes a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one."

Tony poured his drink, then continued.

"But let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan."

"Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a hulk."

"I thought the beast had wondered off."

"You're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the earth, you can be damned well sure that we'll avenge it."

Loki walked forward, matching Tony's pace. He raised his sceptre.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?"

Loki tapped Tony's chest with the point of his sceptre. A small ping sounded. Nothing happened.

Confusion spread of the dark-haired man's face. He tried again. Another ping.

"It should work."

"Well, performance issues. You know?"

Tony pulled a face.

In anger, Loki grabbed his throat and flung him across the room. Tony started to crawl away from the god.

"Jarvis, anytime now."

Loki stalked over to Tony, grabbing him by the throat. He lifted him up.

"You will all fall before me," he growled out, before throwing Tony out the window.

The elevator doors opened and a red pod shot out, following Tony's path.

With a strained scream, Catherine flung herself at Loki. Her hands went over his head and around his neck. She pulled tightly and wrapped her legs around his middle.

Loki threw his head back, smashing it against Catherine's face with a loud crack.

He flipped her over his head, slamming her onto her back with force. Catherine groaned. Blood gushed from her nose.

"You stupid mortal!" Loki snarled.

He raised the sceptre above his head, ready to bring it down upon her.

Tony, now in his Iron Man suit, flew to the window. Loki looked over, anger written all over his face.

"And there is one other person you pissed off," Tony said, his voice sounding metallic, "His name was Phil."

Tony fired a repulser at Loki; sending the god flying back, only to land on his rear.

"Right, army."

He turned to look at Catherine.

"Hide," was all he said, before flying up.

Catherine got to her feet. The sounds of explosions down in the city started, along with the screams of terror. She ran to the bar and ducked down behind it.

She heard Loki get up and walk outside.

Catherine searched through the cupboards and draws. Finding a knife, she started to run the blade along the ropes.

She heard shouting coming from outside. To her, it sounded like Thor.

The ropes were cut and Catherine dropped them to the floor. She didn't bother to look outside; instead, she made a dash for the elevator.

"Jarvis, ground floor," she commanded.

"Mr Stark has suggested you stay in the tower," JARVIS replied.

"Forget about what he said. I have to leave the city; escape the battle."

"Very well, Miss Catherine."

The elevator reached the ground floor and Catherine entered. A few seconds passed and she was on the street level.

She ran out and barely missed crashing into a straggler. Catherine made a run, when an explosion came from the end of the street. Chitauri soldiers came down the road, shooting at any lagging people.

Catherine ducked down behind a car. She was trying to figure out a way to get out of the city.

The sound of a crying child reached her ears. Peering out, she saw a girl; no older than six. The child was looking around.

Catherine looked back to see the Chitauri advancing quickly. Without a second thought, she ran out from her hiding place and grabbed the girl.

Catherine took off. Shots sounded, barely missing her. She ran around a corner and an excruciating flare of pain jolted through the back of her thigh. Catherine fell to her knees, with a scream of pain.

She let go of the child and grabbed her leg. Blood ran over her fingers, soaking the pant leg. Catherine pulled herself up to stand on her good leg, using the wall of a building as support.

Grabbing the girl's hand, she limped down the street.

The two went around another corner and froze. Three Chitauri warriors raised their weapons.

Catherine spun around and shielded the girl's body with her own. She heard the weapons fire, but felt no pain.

Slowly, she turned her head to look; just in time to see Steve take them out. He turned his gaze to look at her.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, helping Catherine to her feet, "Stark wanted you to stay in the tower."

"I'm trying to get out of the city," Catherine replied, "It's lucky I left the tower when I did. This girl wouldn't even be alive if I hadn't."

"Come with me. I'll protect you until I get you both to safety."

Catherine gave a nod. She picked up the child and limped after Steve.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven**

Steve defeated another Chitauri warrior. The three were quickly making their way to where the people of the city was being evacuated. Police officers met them.

Steve pressed a finger to his ear, listening to something through his ear piece.

"On my way," he said, "Get to safety," he continued, looking to Catherine, before jogging away.

"Steve, wait!" Catherine called out. She knelt down. "Sweetie, go with the nice police man. I'll be back soon."

The girl nodded and took the police man's hand; the two going into the subway station. Catherine stood up and limp-ran to catch up with Steve, who was waiting for her.

"Go back, it's not safe on the streets," Steve ordered.

"I can't just stay somewhere and wait. I can-"

"There is a missile on its way to the city. You need to evacuate. Take care of the girl and escape."

Catherine's jaw dropped.

"I'm not going anywhere. Tony is risking his life to save the city. If he doesn't make it, I want to be able to say goodbye."

Steve thought for a moment.

"Okay," he agreed, "We'll rendezvous with Thor and the others. Can you run?"

"I can keep up; don't worry."

Steve ran alongside Catherine. She knew he was purposely keeping a slower pace than he usually would. She didn't mind though.

They made it to an intersection and spotted Thor. Making their way over, Thor took out a Chitauri and grinned wildly. He joined them.

"Lady Stark, what are you doing here? You should be getting away."

"I am not leaving Tony. He's the only family I have left."

Thor nodded his head, understanding.

"Still you should hide for the time being."

"Where?" Catherine questioned.

Steve and Thor both looked around.

"There," Steve suggested, pointing to a building that was still intact.

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a spare earpiece. He handed it over to Catherine.

"Here," he continued, "It'll keep you in contact with us."

"Thanks," Catherine replied, "Good luck and stay safe."

"And to you, as well."

Catherine ran into the building. She ducked down behind a window and peered out. Chitauri started to attack the two men outside. They threw their weapons.

Thor reached out and caught his hammer. As Steve turned, an energy blast struck him, knocking him down hard. Thor ran over to a broken car. He swung his hammer, flipping the vehicle over and over; crushing a few Chitauri soldiers.

Thor helped Steve to his feet. Steve raised his shield up.

"You ready for another bout?" Thor asked.

"What? You getting' sleepy?" Steve retorted.

"I can close it! Can anybody hear me?! I can shut the portal down!" Natasha yelled through the earpiece.

"Do it!"

"No wait!" Tony cut in.

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in, its gonna blow in less than a minute and I know just where to put it."

Catherine's eyes widened and she ran back out, just in time to see Tony grab the missile from behind and steer it into the sky; towards the portal.

"Stark, you know this is a one-way trip?"

Tony didn't respond.

"Tony, whatever happens, I love you," Catherine said, through the earpiece she wore.

A chuckle came as a reply.

"Don't get all sentimental on me now, kit cat. It's _so_ not you."

"I know."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Catherine?"

"Yes, Tony?"

"I want you to know…I for-"

Communications from Tony cut off.

"Tony?!" Catherine called out, "Tony?! Tony!"

Tears fell down her face. The three waited. Each second that passed seemed to drag on forever. Suddenly, all over the city, Chitauri warriors and leviathans fell down. Thor, Steve and Catherine looked up at the portal; not sure if Tony would make it back.

Thor and Steve saw the supernova coming towards them. Thor gave a nod to Steve.

"Close it," Steve ordered Natasha.

"No!" Catherine screamed out.

She spun around and tried to grab the collar of Steve's outfit, while Thor held her back.

"He hasn't come back yet!" she continued.

Steve looked up at the closing portal, sorrow filled his face. A small figure fell through.

"Son of a gun," Steve exclaimed, smiling.

The other two looked up and grinned widely. The grins faltered, however, when they realised he wasn't showing any signs of slowing.

"He's not slowing down," Thor stated.

He swung his hammer around. Before he could fly up, Hulk snatched Tony out of the air. He crashed into a building and slid down. He threw Tony off of himself.

Thor, Steve and Catherine ran over to them. Thor ripped Tony's helmet off.

Tony's eyes were closed and he looked as if he were dead. Catherine fell to her knees and hovered her hands over his body, unsure of what to do. Hulk roared out in fury, causing the group to jump. Tony jolted awake with a groan.

"What the hell?" he questioned, "What just happened?" he looked around the group, "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"We won," Steve said.

Tony got to his feet and was almost knocked back down by Catherine who embraced him in a teary hug. He pulled away after a few heartbeats.

"Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried Shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

Thor looked up to Stark Tower.

"We're not finished yet," he said.

"And then shawarma after?"

Loki crawled onto the stair, looking terrible. He took a few breaths. Sensing someone behind him, he turned to find the Avengers staring at him, furious.

"If it's all the same to you. I'll have that drink," Loki said; a half-smile on his face. Hulk snorted at him.

#

A few weeks later, the Avengers were taking Thor and Loki, who was handcuffed and muzzled, to a blocked area.

Thor shook hands with the team and gave Selvig a hug. Tony opened the case that held the tesseract. Bruce took it out and placed it inside a glass tube that Thor held.

Thor gave Loki the other end. The Asgardians leapt into the energy beam and disappeared. One-by-one, the group splintered off; strolling in different directions.

Bruce and Tony climbed into Tony's sports car; Steve rode away on his Harley; and Clint and Natasha climbed into SHIELD cars.

"Where's Catherine?" Bruce asked, his question aimed at Tony; even though he wasn't facing him.

"She's back at the tower. Didn't want to see reindeer games again."

"I don't blame her. I'm surprised at how brave she was."

Tony snorted.

"Brave at first, stubborn and stupid at the end," Bruce rolled his eyes, "I told her to stay at the tower. She would have been safer there."

"I doubt it. Loki was there and would have found her if he won. She would have died. Besides, she saved that little girl; reuniting that family."

"Don't get me wrong; I'm glad she saved the kid, but she was injured because of it. I just wish that she didn't come after me."

"You two are each other's family. You would _do_ anything for each other."

"Yeah, I know," Tony cleared his throat, before changing the subject, "Okay big guy, I'm renovating the tower. Any suggestions?"

Bruce thought for a moment.

"How about a yoga studio?" he suggested, remembering the yoga session he had done with Catherine a few weeks prior.

"Didn't know you were into that sort of thing."

Bruce shrugged.

"Yeah, it's a great anger release."

Tony mulled it over.

"Consider it done."

#

Back at Stark Tower, Catherine was sitting on her bed. The room's door was closed. A nose bandage covered her nose; three stitches sealed her head wound; and five on her leg.

It had been a few weeks since the attack, and yet Catherine didn't like to sleep. She had nodded off a few times, however, it never lasted any longer than a few hours, due to the nightmare she suffered.

With a groan, she pushed herself into a standing position. She had a quick shower and dressed in a singlet and a pair of shorts. Catherine wiped the steam off the mirror and looked at her reflection. Dark circles hung under her eyes. a large bruise on her nose. Her skin looked pale.

With a somewhat, annoyed sigh, she exited the room. As she walked into the kitchen, JARVIS spoke.

"Miss Catherine, Mr Stark and Mr Banner have arrived."

"Thanks, Jarvis."

She grabbed an apple and sat down on the couch, munching on it. Tony had been making sure that she had been eating properly. He had gotten mad after the first week. Catherine wasn't eating much during that time and starting to lose weight.

Since then, Tony had made sure to either cook or order take out. He would always make sure to sit with her and watch her eat her meals. It was starting to get on her nerves.

She was about halfway through the fruit, when Tony and Bruce came up to the floor. Catherine turned to them; a forced smile on her face.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," Bruce and Tony replied, in unison.

"Alright," Tony clapped his hands together, "Due to the renovations, I'm having Bruce's floor done first. He'll be staying here in the guest room for the time being."

"Only if it's okay," Bruce quickly countered, "I wouldn't want to be in your way."

Catherine waved a hand.

"No, it's fine. Make yourself at home," she replied.

"Thanks."

"Sir, Miss Potts wishes to see you to finalize the blue prints," JARVIS spoke up.

"Be right there," Tony replied, "Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back later," he directed to Bruce.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight**

Bruce sat opposite Catherine at the kitchen table. The two had ordered Chinese takeout. Tony had declined the meal, with the excuse that he needed to perfect the blueprints of the tower's makeover; then a date with Pepper.

The two brunettes sat in silence.

Bruce looked up; taking in how worn out Catherine looked. The bruise on her nose was healing, however, still looked bad. Bruce swallowed his mouthful and spoke.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Catherine shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Sleeping well?"

Catherine turned her gaze up to the scientist.

"Did Tony put you up to this?" she questioned.

Bruce shook his head.

"No," he answered, "Even _I_ can see you don't look well. How often do you sleep and for how long?"

Catherine put down her meal and started to play with it, using her fork. She didn't look back up.

"I…don't actually sleep."

"Is there a reason why?"

"I'm afraid to. I close my eyes and all I can see is his face. I don't want to sleep. I feel like that when I wake up, I'll be back with him; about to be killed."

Bruce nodded in understanding.

"I get it. I…have nightmares about when the other guy comes out and terrorizes a city."

"How do you get over it?"

"You never really get over it. It fades over time, though."

"You recommend time? Is that all?"

"Time and the occasional sleeping tablet."

Bruce smiled. Catherine gave a small chuckle.

"I don't suppose you have any?" she asked.

"I'll give you one tonight and see how you feel tomorrow."

Catherine focused on her meal in front of her.

"Thanks, Bruce."

"Any time."

The two finished their meals, before putting the left-overs away.

"Miss Catherine, Mr Stark is on the line," JARVIS spoke up.

"Put him on," Catherine replied.

The two on the floor were silent until the call connected.

"Hey science bro, bio sis!" Tony called out.

"Science bro?"

"Bio sis?"

"Trying out nicknames. Any suggestions?" a pause, "No? Nothing?"

"We'll get back to you on that," Bruce replied.

"How many cups of coffee _have_ you had?" Catherine asked.

"Only a few. Not too much."

"Tony," she warned.

"Okay, fine. Enough to empty a kettle."

"That's not good, Tony," Bruce cut in.

"I know, I know. Hey, Christmas is coming up. I need an idea for something for Pepper. Any ideas?"

Catherine and Bruce looked at each other for a moment and gave a shrug.

"Uh…how about a rabbit?" Catherine voiced out.

"A rabbit?" Bruce and Tony questioned, in unison.

"Yeah. Why not? I mean, they are cute and Pepper told me it's her favourite animal."

Tony was silent for a few moments, while he thought about it."

"It's a great idea," he stated, "What colour should I get and how big should it be?"

"It has got to be a red rabbit, almost the same shade as Pepper's hair and try to get the biggest one you can find. She'll be grateful for it."

"That's a really good idea," Bruce commented.

"Thanks, I am a genius," Catherine replied, with a wide grin.

"Thanks guys," Tony cut in, "You're awesome. Hey, I'm staying at Malibu for a while. You two have fun and don't do anything I won't do."

"There's nothing you won't do," Catherine retorted.

Tony chuckled.

"I know," he responded, before hanging up.

Bruce turned to Catherine.

"How much you wanna bet he somehow manages to screw up?" he asked.

"Oh, I am not going to bet for him getting it right. I'll lose right away."

"Right. Yeah. Never place much faith in him."

"Yeah. I'm heading down to the lab, did you want to come along?"

"No thank you. I think I'll just settle in for the night."

"Okay. You know where to find me if you change your mind. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

#

Catherine was sitting cross-legged on the lab floor, building lego with JARVIS' computer software. She had missed using Stark tech while she was on her travels. The computers she had used were almost painstakingly slow; however, she did eventually get used to it.

Catherine was currently on her third building, when her eyes started to droop. She quickly stood up and stretched.

"Jarvis, I'm going out. If Bruce is awake, tell him I'm going to Central Park; otherwise, tell him when he wakes up."

"Yes, Miss Catherine."

Catherine had only taken a few steps, when she collapsed; knocking a chair down with her.

#

Bruce was waken suddenly by a sharp, shrill alarm. He bolted upright, frantically looking around for danger. The alarm sound stopped and JARVIS spoke.

"Sorry to wake you, Mr Banner. My scanners have detected that Miss Catherine has collapsed in the laboratory."

At the mention of Catherine in trouble, Bruce got out of bed, panic spreading through his body. He was running as fast as he could to the labs; granted he had taken the elevator to get there quicker, but that wasn't the point.

He furiously entered the pin for the door, before bursting in. He saw her right away. Bruce knelt beside Catherine and checked her neck for a pulse. He breathed out in relief. The pulse was there and it was strong.

Catherine stirred and rolled over. She looked at Bruce with a frown.

"What's going on?" she asked, attempting to sit up.

Bruce helped her to her feet and steadied her.

"You're exhausted," he stated, "Come on, it's time to sleep."

Catherine opened her mouth to refuse.

"It doesn't matter what you say," he cut her off, "You're _going_ to sleep; even if I have to drag you there and strap you to your bed."

Catherine couldn't help but smirk at the end of that sentence. Bruce noticed.

"Shut up," he commented, with an eye roll.

He led her up to their floor and into her room. He made her sit on her bed.

"Get comfortable. I'll be back in a few minutes," he ordered.

Bruce exited and Catherine quickly changed into her sleepwear. She was just getting under the covers, when Bruce came back in. He carried a glass of water in one hand and two tablets in the palm of the other.

"Here," he said, handing them over.

Catherine took them. With an inward groan, she popped the small pills into her mouth and swallowed them with help from the water. Bruce looked content; a small smile forming on his face.

"You'll feel better in the morning," he continued, in an, almost, motherly tone of voice, "I promise."

"I hope so. Good night, Bruce."

"Good night, Catherine.

Bruce took the, now empty, glass and exited the room, closing the door behind himself.

Catherine lay down, pulling the covers up to her shoulder. She could feel her eyes begin to drop and her body started to go numb; in preparation for her much needed sleep. Soon, she was out like a light with no nightmares to plague her, for once.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine**

Midday saw Catherine coming into the kitchen with a yawn.

Bruce had settled himself down on the couch, a book open in his lap. He was engrossed in the novel, that he didn't hear her enter.

Catherine made herself a sandwich and took a large bite out of it, as she poured herself a glass of juice. She collapsed down on the couch and turned on the TV. News reports on Tony appeared. As quickly as it came on, Catherine changed the channel.

She stopped on a news channel that was showing another victim that had been taken by the killer dubbed the Grave Digger. Bruce looked up. The two shared an empathetic silence, at the news of the nine-year-old boy that had disappeared.

"Those parents must be devastated," Catherine voiced.

Bruce gave a silent nod.

"I can't imagine going through that. I hope I never have to," he replied.

Catherine shifted her body, so that she was facing the man.

"You don't want children?" she questioned.

"There used to be a time when I did; but that was before my accident."

Catherine put a hand over her mouth, shock on her face.

"I'm so sorry. I completely forgot."

Bruce waved a hand.

"Don't worry about it. It's kinda refreshing to not have someone tiptoe around certain conversations. What about you? You want kids?"

Catherine gave a small chuckle.

"When I was younger, I wanted a small army of children. Now I just want one or two."

"I'm sure you'll find someone."

He smiled.

"I kinda doubt it. I'm very shy around new people. If I ever meet a person that loves me for that and won't pressure into going out, then I'll consider it. Until then, I'm content with my life right now."

"I'm _sure_ you'll find someone. You'll make a great mother."

Catherine a small smile and ducked her head; purposely making her hair cover her face.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"This just in," the news reporter, cut in, "Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, has issued a challenge to the Mandarin. Here is what he had to say…"

Bruce and Catherine snapped their heads to the screen, giving their full attention. Tony's face appeared.

"My name is Tony Stark and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward. That's why I've just decided that you just died, pal. I'm going to come get the body. There is no politics here. It's just good old-fashioned revenge. There's no Pentagon, it's just you and me! Ten-eight-eighty Malibu Point, nine-zero-two-six-five. I'll leave the door unlocked."

The reporter's face replaced the clip of Tony.

"We'll stay on this story," she said, "More as it develops."

Catherine switched off the TV. Her mouth was hung open. She snapped her jaw shut and sprang to her feet.

"I'll be right back," she informed Bruce.

"Going to call Tony?" he guessed.

"Oh, yeah."

Catherine walked away, ignoring the snicker of laughter coming from Bruce. She pulled her phone out of the pants pocket she wore the day before and dialled Tony's number. Catherine held the device to her ear and listened to the ringing. It wasn't until the sixth ring that the call was answered.

"You have reached the AI version of Tony Stark. Please leave a-"

"Tony," Catherine cut him off, "What the hell were you thinking?"

She couldn't hide the anger in her voice. Tony remained silent for a few moments, before replying.

"Cat? I thought you were Coulson."

Catherine blinked.

"Don't you have my number saved?" she asked.

"New phone."

Tony stated it, like it was the most logical thing in the world.

"That aside, what did you do? You just provoked _another_ psychopath. What did I tell you?"

"I got it. Don't need to remind me," there was a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"You just put yourself in harm's way. What is going on through your head? This isn't like you."

"You don't know me anymore!" he snapped, "You left for ten years! You shouldn't be surprised! I didn't care that you didn't want the business, but you left me wondering if you were ever coming back!"

"Is that what all of this is all about?! You were the one that said I should go!"

"I didn't want to be the bad guy! I told you to go, so that when you returned, you would want to help with the company!"

Catherine gave a loud, annoyed groan.

"It's all on you! A simple phone call, and I would have returned!"

"Don't blame me for that!"

"You're blaming me for your reckless behaviour! If you want to get yourself killed, go ahead!"

Not letting Tony reply, Catherine hung up. She clenched her phone tightly, as she ran her free hand through her hair; a nervous habit she had developed in her early teens; which others had said, resembled what Tony did whenever he was stressed, nervous or feeling awkward.

Catherine pocketed her phone in her dressing gown and, after taking a few calming breaths, re-joined Bruce in the living room. she slumped down onto the couch, causing the man to laugh.

"Went that well, huh?" he asked.

"Swimmingly," Catherine replied, as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Her actions caused Bruce to laugh even more. Catherine rolled her eyes, before a smile overtook her scowl. Bruce got to his feet and turned to Catherine, closing his book, gently.

"I have an appointment at the shield building; did you want to come along?" he asked.

"Sure," Catherine replied, without a second thought, "I could use a distraction right now. I'll just change and then we can go."

Catherine went to her bed room and dressed in a pair of jeans and a purple blouse. She brushed her hair, brushed her teeth and slipped on a pair of flats. She grabbed her handbag and went out to meet Bruce.

They took the elevator down to the garage and clambered into one of the, surprisingly, civilian looking cars Tony owned. Catherine drove, following Bruce's directions to the SHIELD building. She parked inside the gate, after getting clearance, and the two got out of the vehicle. They entered the building and walked down the corridors, until they reached a door labelled 'Director Fury.'

"You don't mind waiting for a little bit, do you?" Bruce asked.

Catherine shook her head.

"I'll be here," she replied, with a smile.

Bruce knocked on the door and went in, when a word of 'enter' replied. Catherine sat down and placed her bag on the floor.

For the next two hours, she played a game of fruit ninja on her phone. She was so close to beating her high score, when she received a call. The ID said 'Pepper.' Catherine answered.

"Pepper, what's up?"

She could hear Pepper sobbing on the other end and Catherine sat up straight.

"What wrong?" She continued, "Are you okay?"

"No," Pepper replied, "It's Tony."

"What happened?"

Catherine felt her heart speed up and she clutched the hem of her shirt.

"The Malibu house was attacked and Tony fought the helicopters that started the fight. He went down into the water an hour ago, and hasn't resurfaced. There are divers already looking for him. I thought I should let you know, rather than hear about it from the media."

"That's not possible. I'm on my way right now. I need to see this for myself. I'll be there in a few hours."

Catherine hung up and jumped to her feet. She sprinted back to the car and pulled the keys from her pocket. Just as she was about to unlock the vehicle, she heard the sound of electricity behind her. As she turned, she was struck in the back of her neck. Pain flared for a second, before she fell unconscious.

Bruce exited Fury's office to find Catherine gone and her handbag still at the waiting chairs.

"You just missed her," an agent spoke up, from one of the chairs, "She ran out of here a few seconds ago; and I mean that literally."

Bruce gave a mumble of thanks, before, he too made his way to the car; carrying the handbag in one hand. He was a few metres away, when he saw Catherine lying on the ground, beside the car. Fear course through his veins and he broke into a run.

Stepping out onto a clear strip of asphalt, tires screeched and he stopped, looking towards where the sound had come from. A car sped towards Bruce. He had no time to react before the car hit him, knocking him out.

 **AN: I'm currently writing out CH11 throughout this. I have ideas for what I want to happen (Which I will write out), I'm just curious as to whether you guys want Catherine to gain superpowers or follow in Tony's steps and have her own iron suit built.**

 **It's kinda difficult about which idea I want to happen. So if you guys want one option or the other, tell me and give me some ideas. I would very much like to hear what you guys want.**

 **Also, at this point it's all filler chapters until I get to WS and AoU, so I am bound to run out of prompts at some point. If you have a prompt you want me to right out, feel free to send a request and I'll more likely than not be able to fit it in.**

 **Thanks for reading this and I hope you guys are enjoying the fanfic. Please RXR.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten**

Catherine stirred, groaning. She shifted in the seat she was in and rubbed the back of her neck; from where it faintly throbbed. She opened her eyes and found that she was in the car. It was dark, yet she could see; meaning that she had been in the dark for a while.

Catherine moved her hand over to the window and wound it down a little. Almost, at once, stones fell into the car, dirt filling the small area quickly. Catherine wound the window up, hastily. She heard movement behind her and she shifted her body around to look.

"Bruce?" she questioned, seeing said man in the back seat.

"Catherine?" he replied, in the same tone, "Where are we? What's going on?"

"I don't know where we are. I think we've been buried alive."

Bruce sat up, his eyes wide.

"How did we end up here?" he asked, worry hinting in his voice.

"You don't remember anything?"

Bruce thought for a moment, straining his brain to collect what had happened.

"You left your bag behind. I went to give it back to you. You were lying on the ground and then…I think I was hit by a car. What do you remember?"

"Pepper called me. Tony is…oh god, Tony's missing. I was on my way to his Malibu house when I was struck by something. I was out until just now," she paused, before continuing, "Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure."

"Can you look at my neck? It hurts."

Bruce leaned forward and moved Catherine's hair to the side. He gently touched the two small burn wounds in her skin; apologising when she hissed in pain.

"Looks like a modified version of a taser struck you," he concluded, his hands shaking.

Catherine spun around. Bruce's face held a look of anger and his skin had splotches of green.

"Bruce," Catherine spoke, in a fearful tone, "You need to calm down. You transform in here and I most likely die."

"You think I don't know that?" Bruce snapped back.

He turned his eyes to her brown orbs. They were starting to glow a bright green. Catherine moved quickly into the back seat and placed her hands on either side of Bruce's face. He gripped her wrists tightly, trying to control his anger. It didn't seem to work though, as his hands started to grow. His grip tightened even more, causing Catherine to clench her teeth.

She saw his shirt start to rip. In a panic, she lunged forward; smashing her lips against his. It startled him and stopped him from transforming. Catherine didn't stop the kiss, until his hands relaxed. She leaned back and dropped her hands.

Bruce looked at her, shock written on his face.

"Are you okay?" Catherine asked, as she saw the green fade from his eyes.

"Y…yeah," he responded, "What was that for though?"

Catherine shrugged her shoulders.

"I panicked," she admitted, "I read that shocking someone can stop panic attacks. I just assumed that it would work on you too."

"You risked your life on a theory?"

"My life was at risk either way. This was the only option that gave any hope to live."

Bruce cleared his throat and turned his head away.

"We have to find a way out of here before we run out of air. Is there anything we can use?"

"I don't know. You check the back, I'll take the front."

Catherine climbed back into the front and the two began their search. They managed to find a book, a pen, a mobile phone without the battery, a camera and a small bottle of perfume.

"I thought Tony owned the car," Catherine mused, "I have to change my mind and think it's Pepper's instead. She's going to kill us when she finds out…if she finds out."

Catherine mumbled the last sentence, doubt filling her.

"Trust me, _when_ she finds out, she's not going to care about that. She is going to be more worried about us. Let's just hope she finds out soon."

#

Pepper had gotten off the phone with Catherine about half an hour ago. She still had _some_ hope that Tony had made it, but it was slowly being diminished as the time dragged on.

Tony had already faced off against some of the most dangerous people in the world and had always come out on top; however, she knew that luck was going to have to run out sometime.

Pepper moved over to the cliff's edge and peered down over the large ocean before her, that stretched beyond the horizon. Her phone started to ring and she quickly answered it.

"Tony?" she asked, "Is that you?"

"Catherine Stark and Bruce Banner have been buried alive. Wire transfer twelve million to the following account or they will suffocate to death," replied a deeply disguised voice.

Before Pepper could respond, the call ended and she received a text with the account information. Her heart skipped a beat and she dialled the number for SHIELD, which Tony had given her in case of an emergency. She held the phone to her ear. The phone was answered after the second ring.

"Director Fury," a male voice answered.

"Fury, it's Pepper. I need your help," she tried her best to keep her voice steady.

"What's wrong?"

"Tony is missing and Catherine and Bruce have been buried alive."

"I'll come get you personally. Where are you?" Fury asked, his voice in a deadly serious tone.

"I'm at Tony's Malibu home."

"I'm on my way."

#

Catherine rested her head against the back of the driver's seat. Bruce was busy thinking, in the back, about how to get out and escape, before the air ran out. Catherine was holding the novel, flipping the pages, at a fast pace. The last conversation between her and Tony running through her mind. She had no idea of knowing how long they had been trapped for, although she had a feeling it had been a good few hours by now. The air was starting to get a little thin.

Tears threatened to fall, as the thought of never being able to see anyone else again, entered her head. Catherine brought a hand up and wiped her eyes with her palm. Bruce saw the motion and looked at her through the rear-view mirror.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

"I'm fine," Catherine replied.

Bruce sat up and leaned his arms against the two front seats.

"I'm not going anywhere. You helped me, the least I can do is listen."

"You seem awfully calm about this."

"Yeah, well, I know that the other guy will get me out of here. He will do everything he can to protect me."

Catherine chuckled slightly.

"I'm just afraid that I'll never see Tony or Pepper again," she replied, "What if I die in here?" I have no powers to help me. I'm just a regular human."

"What about Tony, Natasha and Clint? They don't have powers either."

"Natasha and Clint are trained assassins and Tony has access to his suits. I have nothing. In a fight, they would last longer than me."

"When we get out of here, I'll make sure you can defend yourself. I know some people who would be happy to teach you."

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm going to make it," tears spilled from her eyes, "If…when you get out, tell the others where my body is."

"You _will_ be alive to tell the tale yourself. I have a plan."

"What is it?"

"We rig up a few wires to the airbag and use it to blow ourselves to freedom."

"I'm not an idiot. If we're below ten metres, the shock will definitely kill us…kill me."

"I know, but what else can we do? If the other guy comes out, you're dead. If we aren't found, you're dead. This way, we at least have a chance to escape."

"Can we prolong our air first? I'm not _that_ desperate right now."

#

It had been seventeen hours since Pepper received the phone call from the grave digger. There was only one hour left in the deadline. She had called the Stark bank account, only to have been told that they require a proof of life, before being able to pay the ransom.

SHIELD was busy trying to find both Catherine and Bruce. Pepper had gotten a call from Tony only a few minutes ago, to tell her that he was fine. She didn't have the heart to tell him that his sister was missing. He had enough to worry about already.

Pepper was at one of the SHIELD computers, trying to locate the car they had taken. All of Tony's cars had a tracking device planted in them, in case any had been stolen. Pepper was so close to pinpointing the location. Fury entered the room and spoke; his voice sounding more comforting than he usually would.

"Anything yet?"

Pepper shook her head.

"Not yet," she responded, not taking her eyes off the monitor, "Another twenty minutes and we have the car."

"Any way to speed that up?"

"I'm going as fast as I can."

"Need anything?"

"I need to not find their bodies. I need them back alive."

"I understand. I'll be back in twenty minutes. Call me if you need help."

"Will do."

Fury left the room again and Pepper started to pace in circles, chewing on the tips of her nails. She had been in a panic for the past eight hours. The only thought being, what if they aren't in the car? She had already wasted a large chunk of time on trying to track the car. It would have been quicker, had she been using JARVIS; however, he had been removed from any and all SHIELD property.

Finally, the computer made a few beeps and Pepper flew over to it. She looked at the screen and her heart thudded heavily against her chest. The car was at a stone quarry. Pepper ran to the door, almost colliding with Fury, who was just about to enter.

"Stone quarry on the east side of the city," Pepper informed him.

"Let's go."

As they were making their way to a quin jet, Fury was ordering his top agents to go with them, which included Clint and Natasha. Fury planted himself in the piolet seat of the quin jet.

"Let's hope we're not too late," he stated, as he started up the jet.

#

Catherine sat in the back of the car, while Bruce sat in the front. The air was dangerously low on oxygen; enough for Catherine to get desperate. Bruce was rigging up the device that was either going to free them or kill the woman. Catherine was busy writing in a blank page of the book. A final goodbye if the plan went wrong. She tore out the page and pocketed it. Bruce finished the wiring and turned to Catherine.

"We need to get as far back from the blast as we can," he informed her.

"Care to join me?" Catherine replied, patting the seat beside her. Bruce gave a sad smile and climbed into the back. He held the small trigger in front of him, his thumb hovering above it.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Tears ran down Catherine's face.

"Just promise me, that the hulk will get me out if it doesn't work."

"I promise."

Catherine placed her hands over top of Bruce's and the two took a deep breath, as they pressed the trigger, setting the explosion off.

At the surface of the quarry, SHIELD agents were moving as quickly, yet thoroughly as they could. Pepper kept scanning the area before her, hoping to find a patch that looked out of place. She turned her head, just in time to see some stones shift and a cloud of white smoke climb into the air.

"There!" she called out, pointing to the spot.

Almost at once, Clint and Natasha were there, on their knees, digging through the stones. They reached in and gripped an arm. They pulled and Bruce was the first to come out. A few other agents pulled him further away, as his skin changed green. The two assassins reached in again. They freed Catherine and Natasha checked for a pulse.

"We need a medic!" she yelled out.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter eleven**

Catherine bolted up into a sitting position, screaming. Her heart sky-rocketed when she realised that she had no idea where she was. Her first thought being, that she had died and was in purgatory. When her mind cleared a little, she figured she was in a hospital.

Catherine yanked out the IV drip in her arm, with a hiss of pain. Blood welled from her wound and trickled down her arm. She then proceeded to take off the pulse reader; causing the heart monitor to think that she had flatlined. It made a long, continuous beep.

She got to her feet, steadying herself against the bed.

A woman entered the room and Catherine's body tensed. The woman was of South Korean descent. She had black hair and dark brown eyes. The woman wore a long, button up lab coat and a pair of black pants.

Catherine took a few steps back.

"Who are you?!" Catherine demanded. "Where am I?!"

"Miss Stark, my name is Helen Cho. I am a doctor of shield. You were brought here after you and Doctor Banner, following your eighteen hours of being buried alive."

"So that wasn't a dream?"

"I'm afraid not. Would you please get back into bed? I would like to run a few tests. Make sure you're fine."

Catherine obliged and got back into the bed. Doctor Cho patched up Catherine's wound and turned off the heart monitor. She then ran a few simple tests.

"Physically, you're fine," she said, "I'm not sure about your mental state though. I know something like this can be traumatic. I would recommend that you go see a psychologist, just to be safe." Doctor Cho wrote down a number on a small card. "This is the number for Lance Sweets. He is brilliant, despite his young age, and he has dealt with survivors of the grave digger before."

Catherine took the card and thanked Doctor Cho.

"Is Bruce alright?" she asked.

"It's fine. It might be a surprise to you, but he has been through worse."

"Was that meant to be a joke?"

"I'm no good at them."

Catherine gave a small laugh.

"I though it was alright. Maybe a little too early, but good none-the-less."

Doctor Cho gave a smile.

"Do you feel up for walking around?"

"Am I allowed?"

"Aside from the minor cuts and bruises, you're fit to leave. Just take it easy for the next few weeks."

"Will do, Doc. Thanks."

Catherine got to her feet and Doctor Cho picked up a bag of clothes, from the foot of the bed.

"Miss Potts dropped these off for you. I'll let you get changed and then I'll have an agent escort you home."

Catherine thanked Doctor Cho again. When the woman left the room, Catherine changed into the new jeans and the black button-up shirt. She slipped her feet into a pair of new flats and brushed her fingers through her hair; removing any knots.

As she left the room, pocketing the card, Natasha walked up to her. Catherine smiled at the red-haired assassin.

"Ready to go home?" Natasha asked.

Catherine gave a nod, before following her to the elevator. When they stepped into it and the doors shut, Catherine found it hard to breath.

She tried to take in large lungfuls of air; to no avail. Natasha saw Catherine clutch her chest and she moved to stand before the brown-head.

"What's wrong?" Natasha asked.

"Can't breathe," Catherine gasped out.

Natasha placed her hands on Catherine's shoulders.

"Look at me. Breathe in and out with me."

Catherine matched her breathing with Natasha's. He chest loosened and the air slowly came back. The elevator doors opened and Natasha led Catherine out, quickly. Catherine leaned against the railing of the hellicarrier, gulping in large amounts of air. Natasha copied Catherine's pose and looked over the clouds that hung below them.

"What happened," she asked.

Catherine shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know," Catherine admitted. "The doors shut and…I felt like I was back in the car." She gave a light chuckle. "And to think, I'm still suffering from the attack on New York."

"Most of us are. You more than some. You were taken by Loki and almost killed. You were buried alive. Almost killed again. There is _bound_ to be some…side effects from what happened to you. I suggest you call that shrink as soon as possible."

"How did you know about that?"

Natasha shot a smile.

"Come on, I'll take you home."

Catherine shot a glare to the master assassin's back, whom was walking to the quinjet.

"This isn't over!" she shouted out, "I want answers!"

Catherine and Natasha got onto the quinjet, the latter starting the flight back to Stark Tower.

#

After another panic attack in the elevator, the two made it to Catherine's floor. Catherine made two cups of coffee and the women sat down at the kitchen table. They sipped their drinks in silence for a few minutes.

"Can I ask you a favour?" Catherine asked, setting her cup onto the tabletop.

"Ask away," Natasha replied, before taking another sip.

"Can you help give me some self-defence lessons? I…don't want to feel useless in a fight."

Natasha laughed.

"That's no problem. I can come by once a week. I can teach you hand-to-hand combat as well as how to use a pistol. I'll have to get Fury to give me one day a week off. I can start in two weeks."

"That would be great, thanks."

"Any time." Natasha finished her drink and stood up. "Thanks for the coffee," she said, "I'll see you in two weeks."

Catherine walked to the Natasha to the elevator and bid her goodbye. Catherine moved back into the floor and over to the couch.

She plopped herself down and stretched out on it. Catherine flicked on the TV and a news report came on.

" _We are now entering the fourth day since Tony Stark has disappeared from his Malibu home, following the attack issued by the Mandarin. Officials are beginning to lose hope that Tony Stark is still alive. His assistant, Virginia Pepper Potts has refused to give any statement._ "

Catherine sat up, heart skipping a beat. She pinched herself, not believing that Tony was still missing. She got to her feet and entered the briefing room.

"Jarvis, can you connect me to Pepper?"

"Right away, Miss Catherine," JARVIS replied.

A screen came down and a ringing tone sounded. After the fifth ring, the phone was answered and Pepper's face filled the screen.

"Catherine?" she sounded surprised. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine. It's just that Tony's still missing. Was there any news from the divers?"

"Oh, I completely forgot to tell you. I was so frantic in trying to get you and Bruce back. Tony called me the day after he went missing and told me he was fine. He had some things he needed to take care of. He'll be back when he finishes what he needs to do."

Catherine released a breath of relief.

"That's good to hear," she stated.

"How're you holding up?" Pepper asked, concern lacing her voice.

"I'm fine, Pepper, honest."

Catherine faked a smile, not wanting to worry the red-head. Pepper raised an eyebrow, as if she didn't believe the brunette. Still, she didn't say anything.

"If you say so," she commented, before a small beep sounded from her end of the call. "I gotta go. I have a meeting."

"Alright, good luck."

"Thanks, bye."

"Bye."

Pepper hung up and Catherine turned on her heel. She was out and was stopped by JARVIS.

"Miss Catherine, Mr Stark requests that you continue building and modifying the tower."

Catherine rolled her eyes.

"Alright," she agreed, "But tell Tony that he owes me."

"Of course, Miss Catherine."

She made her way over to the elevator and stopped. She pressed the button, calling the device to the floor. The doors opened and Catherine felt her chest tighten. She clutched at the shirt at her chest and took tentative steps into the elevator.

She spun around, until she was facing the doors and took a few deep breaths. Catherine reached a hand out, pressing the button to Tony's floor; using her index finger. The doors closed and she moved upwards.

Catherine's breathing grew shallow; making her feel as if she were being strangled. She shut her eyes and pressed against the wall.

" _Breath_ ," she thought to herself. " _You can do this_."

The scent of dirt filled her nostrils, making her start to feel sick. She heard the doors open and dashed out. Catherine bent over, hands on her knees, gulping in air. Gaining her breath back to normal, she stood up straight.

When she looked around, she was glad that the floor was empty. Catherine spotted the blue prints on the kitchen table and she made her way over to them. She reviewed them and set herself down to make one simple change. A flight of stairs leading from the roof of the tower to the garage underneath; stopping at each floor as it went along.

Happy with the change, she set the blueprints back down and texted Pepper about them. Needless to say, Pepper was glad that she was told right away, instead of last minute; like Tony would have done. Catherine had then promised to tell her if there were any more changes that needed to be done over the next few weeks.

After a word of thanks from the red-head, Catherine hung up and pocketed the phone.

A loud crack of thunder sounded from outside, causing her to jump. She made her way over to the window and peered out. The sky was clear and sunny.

Catherine raised an eyebrow. She swore she wasn't hearing things.

"Miss Catherine," JARVIS spoke out, "Mr Odinson has arrived."

"Let him in," she responded, with a smile.

It took all but a minute for Thor to reach the floor Catherine was on. She gave a small wave, which was ignored, as Thor went over to her and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Nice to see you too, Thor," Catherine gasped out.

Thor released her and held a wide, beaming grin on his face.

"You wear your injuries well," he complimented, "You should be proud."

"Thank you…I think."

"Is son of Stark here? I wish to discuss something with him."

Catherine shook her head.

"No, sorry. He's…uh…out of the city. Important business that he was hate to be disrupted."

"I understand. May I voice my request to you, instead?"

"Absolutely, Thor. Whatever you need."

Thor moved over to the table and planted himself down. His blue gaze moved over the blueprints.

"What are these?" he questioned

Catherine sat opposite him and explained.

"It's the layout of Stark Tower. Tony and I are renovating…making changes, to make it a better place to live."

"Excellent. Might you make me a room for me to stay when I return to Midgard? It should be no more than a few days here and there, before I must go back to Asgard."

Catherine gave a small laugh.

"I'll have a whole floor made up for you. That way you don't have to think that you're over-staying your welcome."

"No, I couldn't do that. It's your home. I would not-"

"It's no problem. There's plenty of space. Besides, if you have your own floor, you can have guests over at _any_ time. Also, Tony would kill me if I didn't make you feel as comfortable as possible during your stays."

"I would not want to be the reason for your death."

Thor's face looked serious, making Catherine laugh.

"He won't literally kill me," she clarified, "It's an expression we use to indicate how much trouble we're in."

It took a few moments for Thor's face to register that he understood. He gave a nod and Catherine flashed him a smile.

"Great."

She pulled a spare piece of blue paper to herself and wrote down Thor's name on it.

"What do you want on your floor?" she asked.

For the next hour, Thor described what he wanted; even requesting that he have a top floor. Catherine was more than happy to oblige with his requests. She had even included extra rooms for any of his family members or friends to visit. She then sketched out the floor and showed it to the blonde-haired god. He seemed way too happy with the layout.

"I'll finalise it later," Catherine informed him, as she rubbed her wrist, gently.

"That is quite alright. I'm sure you'll do a wonderous job."

"Thanks."

"I'm going to meet a friend. Would you like to accompany us?"

Catherine thought for a moment, before shaking her head.

"No thank you. I've got a lot of thing to do here. I'm a little swamped."

Thor gave a nod.

"I understand," he responded, "However, if you change your mind, call this number."

He jotted down a phone number and handed it over, before standing up. Catherine followed suit.

Thor gave another bone crushing hug, before leaving the floor. Catherine waved as he stepped onto the elevator and rode back to the roof top. She dropped her hand and was suddenly struck by inspiration.

Spinning on her heel, she went back to the table and spread out a few blue floor prints. On each of them, she wrote names. Steve, Thor, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, Tony, and Catherine. She started to design each floor with what she thought each person would've liked; at least from the files she'd read up on them.

A smile was plastered on her face. The tower was going to be headquarters for the team. A safe place. Possibly home.

Her hands flew over the pages in a blur, as she worked.

 **###**

 **Hey guys, I'm back XD**

 **I know, it's been a while since I last updated. Been a bit of a stressful time. Moved from my friend's house back in with my parents. Was looking for work for about six months, before** ** _finally_** **getting a job. Just moved house, which I've been in for about 3 weeks now.**

 **I hope to update a bit more frequently now; might be updating some other fanfics, so keep a look out for those. Got more fanfic ideas in my head, which is taking up even more time of mine (I hate when that happens). Kinda got a mental block with this one, as I'm currently writing out CH 12.**

 **I'm planning on making this go through Avengers 2, with the movies in between. However, seeing as how long there is between Avengers 1 & 2, I need filler chapters. So, if anyone can think of any thing they want me to write out for them, send a review. Even if that means Catherine bonding with any of the other Avengers. **

**I may also plan on having a certain ex come into the picture (Shhh) and stir up some jealousy with Bruce.**

 **Please, read and review. I live for them.**

 **And again thank you so much for sticking out with waiting for this chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter twelve**

Sunlight flooded the room. Midday. It rested on Catherine's face. She hadn't woken yet, despite the brightness. Her body twitched, and her face contorted. A few moments passed before she gave small whimpers.

"Miss Catherine," JARVIS spoke, in a calm tone, "You are having a nightmare. You are safe, wake up."

Giving a scream, Catherine bolted up from the kitchen table; where she had fallen asleep only two hours prior. Her heart thudded hard against her ribcage. The scent of dirt lingered from the dream. She roughly rubbed her hands over her face, getting rid of the sleep.

Getting to her feet, Catherine went over to the kitchen and to the coffee pot. She started to brew it. She poured herself a mug of the bitter liquid and sipped at it. She sat back down at the table and took pictures of the final blueprints, before emailing them to Pepper. Only a few moments went past when she got a 'thank you.'

With a half- smile, Catherine rolled up the prints and set them aside. She picked up her mug again and took a few mouthfuls of the, now warm, beverage. Catherine looked out the window and tucked one leg up to her chest.

As she was setting down the mug, Bruce decided to make his appearance from the hallway. He wore an old, grey jacket and a pair of track suit pants. His hair was still damp, indicating that he just recently had a shower.

He made his way to the kitchen and poured his own cup. He made eye contact with Catherine, which didn't last long. He turned his gaze away and looked to the floor.

"I'm heading down to the lab," he mumbled, as he shifted to go towards the elevator. "Don't wait around for me."

He made a quick escape, only making it to the doors, when Catherine caught up to him. She took hold of his arm.

"Bruce," she said, "You've been avoiding me for the past few days. What's wrong? Did I do something? Say something?"

Bruce looked down to Catherine's grip. She let go; placing her hand at her side. The elevators doors opened, and Bruce stepped on, not saying a word. Catherine's mouth hung open.

"Please," she begged, "Tell me."

Bruce visibly flinched from Catherine's voice, as it trembled; almost on the verge of tears. The doors closed, and Catherine was left alone on the floor. She hugged her middle and tried to stop the flow of water from leaking from her eyes.

Wiping a sleeve over her eyes, she moved back to the kitchen table. Grabbing her cup, she took it to the sink, where she rinsed it and placed it on the drying rack. Catherine looked up and her mouth dropped in disbelief. A scream caught in her throat.

Loki stood at the entrance to the kitchen. He wore the same leather outfit that he had on the day of New York's attack. His hands were behind his back and a menacing smile was planted on his face.

Catherine tried to speak; only succeeding in making small squeaks. Loki's grin grew wider. He took a step forward, causing Catherine to take one back. With a sickening look of glee, he charged at her. Catherine lunged back, hitting the wall behind her and falling to the floor. Her arms were up, protecting her head. A few seconds passed. After not hearing or feeling anything, Catherine slowly lowered her hands.

Getting out of the ball she had ended up in, Catherine rose, shakily, to her feet. She peered around the corner. There wasn't anyone there. She grabbed a large knife from the knife block and ducked down behind the counter.

"Jarvis," she spoke, in a bare whisper.

"Yes, Miss Catherine?"

"Call B-" she stopped, thought better of it and continued. "Do a thermal scan of the room. Is there anyone else here besides me?"

JARVIS went silent for a few moments, before responding.

"The area is clear. No one is present on this floor."

"Has anyone been up here since Bruce left?"

"No, Miss Catherine. No one has been on this floor since Mr Banner left. would you like me to call him for you?"

"No," Catherine answered a little too quickly. "It's okay. I just need sleep."

"Very well, Miss Catherine." JARVIS went silent.

Catherine dropped the knife. It clattered to the floor. She put her head in her hands; her body shook as she tried to control her sobs.

"No one's there," she mumbled to herself; repeating the sentence.

"Just keep telling yourself that," a voice spoke to her.

Snapping her head up, she looked. Loki leaned his rear against the bench top. His arms were crossed over his chest, a smirk on his face. Catherine snatched up the knife from the floor and jumped to her feet. She pointed the blade to the dark- haired man, trembling.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, fear lacing her voice. "You're supposed to be on Asgard. Thor took you back with him."

"That's what he wants you to believe. Think about it; he's back on Earth and I'm here. How do you explain that?"

"I…he wouldn't…it's not…" Catherine tried to think of a logical explanation.

Loki stood up straight, moving out of the kitchen.

"There's two possibilities," he stated, "Either you've lost you mind, or I'm really back." He stopped and faced Catherine, his grin growing wider. "Neither one is good news; for you. I'll give you some time to think about it. See you soon."

With that, Loki faded in a green hue, before disappearing all- together. Catherine collapsed against the island, separating the kitchen from the lounge room. she set the knife down, breathing heavily. She shook her head a few times, trying to make sense of what happened. A few fresh tears ran down her face.

It was then, that she remembered the numbed that Doctor Cho had given her. With a shudder, she realised that she had to head back to her floor. Slowly, she made her way toward the elevator. Taking a deep breath, she got on.

"My floor, please," she spoke through gritted teeth. "And please hurry."

"Right away, Miss Catherine."

The elevator whirred to life, taking her up. Just as she started to have trouble breathing, the doors opened, and she leapt out. Catherine took a few moments to regain her breath. She then made her way to the bedroom. She threw her clothes around, trying to find the jeans she had placed the number in. She found them, half hidden under the bed.

Pulling out the number, she punched the digits into her phone. Her thumb lingered over the call button. She hesitated, wondering if the psychologist would even take her seriously or if he would have her committed.

 _Just do it,_ her brain told her. _Call, make an appointment and decide what to do after._

Catherine pushed the button and put the phone to her ear. It rang once, twice, three times. Before she could hang up, the phone was answered.

"Doctor Sweets."

Catherine swallowed, trying to moisten her dry mouth, before answering.

"Hello, Doctor Sweets. My name is Catherine Stark. I got your number from Doctor Cho."

"Ah, yes. Helen said you might call. Would you like to make an appointment?"

"Yeah. When's your next available time slot?"

The sound of pages flipping, came through the phone's speaker.

"I've got an availability in three days. Is four PM alright with you?"

"It's fine with me. I just have one question."

"Shoot."

"Do you provide house calls?"

"I don't normally, but, given what Helen told me, I'd be happy to make an exception. Can you give me your home address?" Catherine did so. A scritch of pen on paper. "Alright, Miss Stark. I'll see you in three days."

"Thank you, Doctor Sweets."

Catherine hung up and told JARVIS to remind her of the appointment and to the Sweets up when he arrived. Catherine set her phone down on the bed and moved to the en-suite to take a shower. Thirty minutes later, she emerged wearing a fresh change of clothes. Her hair was damp and tied into a plait. Her stomach rumbled.

Moving out to the kitchen, she grabbed an apple and took a bite. It wasn't much of a meal, but enough to sate her hunger for the time being. Catherine planted herself down at the couch, picked up the remote from the coffee table, and flicked on the TV. She changed channels every few seconds, trying to find something interesting to watch. She settled on a cartoon; not wanting to watch another news report on Tony's disappearance, the plan to defend the city against another attack, or another grave digger story.

Catherine crossed one leg under her body and pulled the other up to her chest. She placed her chin on her knee, only half-interested in what was playing. A few times, her mind wandered, only to have Catherine snap back, forcefully. She was zoned out when the elevator came up to the floor. Bruce stepped out. He spotted Catherine. Even from that distance and behind, he could see how the past few weeks had affected her. He made to go towards his temporary room and stopped. With a silent sigh, he moved over to her, stopping at the couch's arm rest and spoke.

"You kissed me."

Catherine jumped, twisting her body to face the brown-haired man.

"What?" she gasped out.

"Earlier, you wanted to know what was wrong. You kissed me."

It took Catherine a moment, before she understood what he was talking about.

"I explained that to you already. It was the only thing I could think of at the time."

"It's just…I haven't had much interaction with people in…that way." He turned his head away, a faint tinge of pink rising over his face.

"There was never anyone?" Catherine asked. "Not even briefly?"

"There was one. A long time ago. It doesn't matter now, though."

"Tell me?"

Bruce looked back to Catherine. She looked a little to eager to hear the story. Maybe needing something to distract her mind for a moment? Bruce decided to oblige in the story telling.

"Her name was Betty. Betty Ross. We grew up together." Bruce slid to sit on the couch. He leaned forward, elbows on thighs, and fingers interlaced. "We dated briefly in high school, before our careers drew us apart. Despite that, I never got over her. It wasn't until I came back to work at Berkley Nuclear Biotechnology Institute."

Catherine whistled, impressed. Bruce continued, about how, after his accident at the lab, Betty found out about his secret and the spark that reignited between them. Bruce had gone into hiding after her father, the General, had discovered everything and started to hunt him down; even though Bruce had saved Betty.

"Even though all that happened to me," Bruce said, "I sometimes wonder what would've happened had I not been hit by the radiation."

Catherine gave a small shrug, before saying her input.

"I think you might've had a normal life. At least to an extent." She looked down at her knees, while she spoke. "I believe you might've gotten back together with Betty. Although, I do think her father would have kept a _very_ close eye on you. you probably would've been miserable even though you had the love of your life."

"I…never thought of it that way before. Makes me kinda glad that I left when I did. I don't think I could've handled what Thaddeus would have had in mind."

"Oh, come on. You're tough enough to handle anything without the other guy."

Bruce gave a nervous laugh, as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I somehow doubt that."

Catherine turned her brown gaze up to meet Bruce's; her face serious."

"No, I mean it. You might not believe it, but I think you would've been just fine."

Bruce moved his head between looking at Catherine and looking to the carpet at his feet.

"Thanks," he said, embarrassment crossing over his features.

"Thank you for telling me about your past. I know it can't have been easy. Are we…good?"

"Yeah, we're good."

Catherine gave a smile. Foreign after her fake and half-hearted ones.

"So," she spoke after a moment, "What're you working on down in the labs?"

"Gamma radiation. Mostly the effects on human DNA. I'm trying to find a cure for myself."

"How's that working out for you?"

"Honestly? Not great. I've been at this for _years_ and still nothing."

"Maybe you just need a break? Rejuvenate somewhere. Do what you wanna do, before coming back?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Enjoy an activity at the park? Holiday somewhere?"

"Where would I go?"

"I would've offered the Malibu house, but die to it being destroyed, maybe our house in Paris?"

"You have a house in Paris?!" Bruce exclaimed.

"Well, yeah. We have houses all over the world. You should see the one in Budapest."

"Maybe I will."

"If you do decide to do so, just say the word. I'll arrange a flight just like that," she snapped her fingers.

"If it ever comes to that, I'll be sure to come straight to you."

"You'd better. I'd hate to see what Tony would have planned if you asked him."

"Yeah, me to."

A low chuckle sounded from the armchair beside Bruce. Catherine flicked her eyes to look. Loki sat there. One leg was draped over the arm rest, while his other was spread out. he was leaning back, hands at his chest and picking dirt from under his nails. His blue eyes moved up and down her body, like a bird of prey looking for fresh meat. Catherine shifted uncomfortably.

"So, you've made up with the mindless beast?" he sneered. "How long do you think it would be before he betrays you? Hurts you? Kills you? Compared to him, you don't stand a chance."

"Are you okay?" Bruce asked, You look a little pale."

He turned his head to look at the armchair and back again. Catherine moved her gaze back to the man in front of her, fake smile now back.

"I'm fine." She rose to her feet. "I think I'm just gonna lie down for a moment. I'll be out for dinner."

"Okay. I hope you feel better after."

Catherine shot one final smile, before making her escape. She shut the door and turned around. Loki leaned against the door frame between the bedroom and en-suit. His arms were folded over his chest.

"How did you-" Catherine started.

"God," Loki cut in, as if it was the most logical thing in the world. He pushed himself into a standing position as he continued. "You should've known better."

He moved over to Catherine. She took a few steps back, until she bumped into the door. Loki placed his hands on either side of Catherine's head, pinning her. He loomed over her, standing almost a full two heads taller.

"You'll never get rid of me." He leaned his face in, inches from hers. "I'm here to stay until the day you die." Loki's face was hard and his eyes made Catherine believe every word he said. "Be ready," his voice became a husky whisper. "I'm going to make your life _hell_."

 **##**

 **Whew, finally got this chapter complete. It's been** ** _so_** **long since I had inspiration to do this one.**

 **Hopefully you guys liked it. Tell me, is Loki really here? What are his plans?**

 **I dunno how long it'll be for the next chapter to be up, or what's going to happen in it. Hmmm.**

 **Anywho, please R &R and I'll see you guys in the next chapter. ^_^**


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